FCPS is turning the new high school purchased to fix crowding into an Aviation magnet school instead of a high school??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Purchasing KAA was the right decision, probably the only decision for which I’d give the FCPS school board credit.

Sure, the renovation may cost $50 million or so, but it’s still far cheaper than building a new school and saves time. The timing can’t be better as we are in the middle of boundary change discussion.

I don’t understand why people focus solely on overcapacity or undercapacity as if that’s the only criterion.

If a school’s capacity is 3,000 and it’s undercapacity at 2,900, is that really ideal? I think any high school enrollment above 2,000 is not ideal. Providing relief to large high schools (2,500+ students) is still meaningful in my opinion, whether they’re overcapacity or not.

https://www.fcps.edu/facilities-planning-future/school-boundary-adjustments/boundary-policy




It's beyond absurd to ask taxpayers to repeatedly expand schools in western Fairfax to 2500 to 3000 seats and then declare we need another high school in the area because anything above 2,000 is a problem. Those expansions cost real money we'll never get back.

If some of those high schools that are already big are overcrowded, that's a different issue, but Herndon is sitting on hundreds of empty seats.

Chantilly is very crowded. Centreville expansion hasn’t started. KAA is a good purchase. Full stop.

It's still nuts to spend millions upon millions expanding some schools to 2500 to 3000 students and then say they should only have 2000 to 2500 kids. Full stop.

It totally makes sense since there was no suitable land for the western school. Now the opportunity came up and FCPS seized the opportunity. As a result, Centreville doesn’t have to increase to 3000 and FCPS doesn’t have to spend money for that. Also other overcrowded schools such as Chantilly and Westfield would get some relief.

It’s not that hard to figure out. I really don’t understand what you are complaining about.

If the school that is expanded is in the wrong place, it makes no sense.

There is no school within a reasonable distance to relieve Chantilly and Westfield. KAA will do that.

They keep talking about academies and magnets. Perhaps these underserved schools would be a good place for them.

Define "reasonable distance." Hint: It's not just your backyard.

It is NOT a thirty to forty minute bus ride. I guess you think it is fine to put other people's kids on a bus trip that long.

FCPS is getting closer to wrapping up a county-wide boundary study and at no point did they propose to redraw boundaries to limit bus rides to 30 minutes.

And many of the proposals would increase the distance kids commute and send them to new schools further from their homes than their current schools.

But clearly you think your area deserves special treatment, whatever the cost to taxpayers or impact on others.

Really?

https://www.fcps.edu/facilities-planning-future/school-boundary-adjustments/boundary-policy


The existing and proposed boundary policy includes the consideration of criteria such as walking and busing routes, travel times, and socio-economics.
FCPS provides transportation services for 139,000 eligible students every day to and from their neighborhood schools or to special programs away from their base schools.
While the majority (76%) of the bus routes in FCPS allow students to spend less than 30 minutes in transit each way, the increased roadway congestion and length of bus rides continues to concern the School Board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Purchasing KAA was the right decision, probably the only decision for which I’d give the FCPS school board credit.

Sure, the renovation may cost $50 million or so, but it’s still far cheaper than building a new school and saves time. The timing can’t be better as we are in the middle of boundary change discussion.

I don’t understand why people focus solely on overcapacity or undercapacity as if that’s the only criterion.

If a school’s capacity is 3,000 and it’s undercapacity at 2,900, is that really ideal? I think any high school enrollment above 2,000 is not ideal. Providing relief to large high schools (2,500+ students) is still meaningful in my opinion, whether they’re overcapacity or not.

https://www.fcps.edu/facilities-planning-future/school-boundary-adjustments/boundary-policy




It's beyond absurd to ask taxpayers to repeatedly expand schools in western Fairfax to 2500 to 3000 seats and then declare we need another high school in the area because anything above 2,000 is a problem. Those expansions cost real money we'll never get back.

If some of those high schools that are already big are overcrowded, that's a different issue, but Herndon is sitting on hundreds of empty seats.

Chantilly is very crowded. Centreville expansion hasn’t started. KAA is a good purchase. Full stop.

It's still nuts to spend millions upon millions expanding some schools to 2500 to 3000 students and then say they should only have 2000 to 2500 kids. Full stop.

It totally makes sense since there was no suitable land for the western school. Now the opportunity came up and FCPS seized the opportunity. As a result, Centreville doesn’t have to increase to 3000 and FCPS doesn’t have to spend money for that. Also other overcrowded schools such as Chantilly and Westfield would get some relief.

It’s not that hard to figure out. I really don’t understand what you are complaining about.

If the school that is expanded is in the wrong place, it makes no sense.

There is no school within a reasonable distance to relieve Chantilly and Westfield. KAA will do that.

They keep talking about academies and magnets. Perhaps these underserved schools would be a good place for them.

Define "reasonable distance." Hint: It's not just your backyard.

It is NOT a thirty to forty minute bus ride. I guess you think it is fine to put other people's kids on a bus trip that long.

FCPS is getting closer to wrapping up a county-wide boundary study and at no point did they propose to redraw boundaries to limit bus rides to 30 minutes.

And many of the proposals would increase the distance kids commute and send them to new schools further from their homes than their current schools.

But clearly you think your area deserves special treatment, whatever the cost to taxpayers or impact on others.

Really?

https://www.fcps.edu/facilities-planning-future/school-boundary-adjustments/boundary-policy


The existing and proposed boundary policy includes the consideration of criteria such as walking and busing routes, travel times, and socio-economics.
FCPS provides transportation services for 139,000 eligible students every day to and from their neighborhood schools or to special programs away from their base schools.
While the majority (76%) of the bus routes in FCPS allow students to spend less than 30 minutes in transit each way, the increased roadway congestion and length of bus rides continues to concern the School Board.

Talk is cheap. Now look at what Thru Consulting actually did and didn't propose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Purchasing KAA was the right decision, probably the only decision for which I’d give the FCPS school board credit.

Sure, the renovation may cost $50 million or so, but it’s still far cheaper than building a new school and saves time. The timing can’t be better as we are in the middle of boundary change discussion.

I don’t understand why people focus solely on overcapacity or undercapacity as if that’s the only criterion.

If a school’s capacity is 3,000 and it’s undercapacity at 2,900, is that really ideal? I think any high school enrollment above 2,000 is not ideal. Providing relief to large high schools (2,500+ students) is still meaningful in my opinion, whether they’re overcapacity or not.

https://www.fcps.edu/facilities-planning-future/school-boundary-adjustments/boundary-policy




It's beyond absurd to ask taxpayers to repeatedly expand schools in western Fairfax to 2500 to 3000 seats and then declare we need another high school in the area because anything above 2,000 is a problem. Those expansions cost real money we'll never get back.

If some of those high schools that are already big are overcrowded, that's a different issue, but Herndon is sitting on hundreds of empty seats.

Chantilly is very crowded. Centreville expansion hasn’t started. KAA is a good purchase. Full stop.

It's still nuts to spend millions upon millions expanding some schools to 2500 to 3000 students and then say they should only have 2000 to 2500 kids. Full stop.

It totally makes sense since there was no suitable land for the western school. Now the opportunity came up and FCPS seized the opportunity. As a result, Centreville doesn’t have to increase to 3000 and FCPS doesn’t have to spend money for that. Also other overcrowded schools such as Chantilly and Westfield would get some relief.

It’s not that hard to figure out. I really don’t understand what you are complaining about.

If the school that is expanded is in the wrong place, it makes no sense.

There is no school within a reasonable distance to relieve Chantilly and Westfield. KAA will do that.

They keep talking about academies and magnets. Perhaps these underserved schools would be a good place for them.

Define "reasonable distance." Hint: It's not just your backyard.

It is NOT a thirty to forty minute bus ride. I guess you think it is fine to put other people's kids on a bus trip that long.

FCPS is getting closer to wrapping up a county-wide boundary study and at no point did they propose to redraw boundaries to limit bus rides to 30 minutes.

And many of the proposals would increase the distance kids commute and send them to new schools further from their homes than their current schools.

But clearly you think your area deserves special treatment, whatever the cost to taxpayers or impact on others.

Really?

https://www.fcps.edu/facilities-planning-future/school-boundary-adjustments/boundary-policy


The existing and proposed boundary policy includes the consideration of criteria such as walking and busing routes, travel times, and socio-economics.
FCPS provides transportation services for 139,000 eligible students every day to and from their neighborhood schools or to special programs away from their base schools.
While the majority (76%) of the bus routes in FCPS allow students to spend less than 30 minutes in transit each way, the increased roadway congestion and length of bus rides continues to concern the School Board.

Talk is cheap. Now look at what Thru Consulting actually did and didn't propose.

So, you think Thru is doing a good job? If you want to complain about waste, you should consider starting there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Purchasing KAA was the right decision, probably the only decision for which I’d give the FCPS school board credit.

Sure, the renovation may cost $50 million or so, but it’s still far cheaper than building a new school and saves time. The timing can’t be better as we are in the middle of boundary change discussion.

I don’t understand why people focus solely on overcapacity or undercapacity as if that’s the only criterion.

If a school’s capacity is 3,000 and it’s undercapacity at 2,900, is that really ideal? I think any high school enrollment above 2,000 is not ideal. Providing relief to large high schools (2,500+ students) is still meaningful in my opinion, whether they’re overcapacity or not.

https://www.fcps.edu/facilities-planning-future/school-boundary-adjustments/boundary-policy




It's beyond absurd to ask taxpayers to repeatedly expand schools in western Fairfax to 2500 to 3000 seats and then declare we need another high school in the area because anything above 2,000 is a problem. Those expansions cost real money we'll never get back.

If some of those high schools that are already big are overcrowded, that's a different issue, but Herndon is sitting on hundreds of empty seats.

Chantilly is very crowded. Centreville expansion hasn’t started. KAA is a good purchase. Full stop.

It's still nuts to spend millions upon millions expanding some schools to 2500 to 3000 students and then say they should only have 2000 to 2500 kids. Full stop.

It totally makes sense since there was no suitable land for the western school. Now the opportunity came up and FCPS seized the opportunity. As a result, Centreville doesn’t have to increase to 3000 and FCPS doesn’t have to spend money for that. Also other overcrowded schools such as Chantilly and Westfield would get some relief.

It’s not that hard to figure out. I really don’t understand what you are complaining about.

If the school that is expanded is in the wrong place, it makes no sense.

There is no school within a reasonable distance to relieve Chantilly and Westfield. KAA will do that.

They keep talking about academies and magnets. Perhaps these underserved schools would be a good place for them.

Define "reasonable distance." Hint: It's not just your backyard.

It is NOT a thirty to forty minute bus ride. I guess you think it is fine to put other people's kids on a bus trip that long.

FCPS is getting closer to wrapping up a county-wide boundary study and at no point did they propose to redraw boundaries to limit bus rides to 30 minutes.

And many of the proposals would increase the distance kids commute and send them to new schools further from their homes than their current schools.

But clearly you think your area deserves special treatment, whatever the cost to taxpayers or impact on others.

Really?

https://www.fcps.edu/facilities-planning-future/school-boundary-adjustments/boundary-policy


The existing and proposed boundary policy includes the consideration of criteria such as walking and busing routes, travel times, and socio-economics.
FCPS provides transportation services for 139,000 eligible students every day to and from their neighborhood schools or to special programs away from their base schools.
While the majority (76%) of the bus routes in FCPS allow students to spend less than 30 minutes in transit each way, the increased roadway congestion and length of bus rides continues to concern the School Board.

Talk is cheap. Now look at what Thru Consulting actually did and didn't propose.

So, you think Thru is doing a good job? If you want to complain about waste, you should consider starting there.

Besides the point, which is there's no consistent policy in FCPS to get bus rides under 30 minutes any more than there is to ensure building facilities are clean and modern.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Purchasing KAA was the right decision, probably the only decision for which I’d give the FCPS school board credit.

Sure, the renovation may cost $50 million or so, but it’s still far cheaper than building a new school and saves time. The timing can’t be better as we are in the middle of boundary change discussion.

I don’t understand why people focus solely on overcapacity or undercapacity as if that’s the only criterion.

If a school’s capacity is 3,000 and it’s undercapacity at 2,900, is that really ideal? I think any high school enrollment above 2,000 is not ideal. Providing relief to large high schools (2,500+ students) is still meaningful in my opinion, whether they’re overcapacity or not.

And, no policy that says a school must be at 100% membership.
https://www.fcps.edu/facilities-planning-future/school-boundary-adjustments/boundary-policy




It's beyond absurd to ask taxpayers to repeatedly expand schools in western Fairfax to 2500 to 3000 seats and then declare we need another high school in the area because anything above 2,000 is a problem. Those expansions cost real money we'll never get back.

If some of those high schools that are already big are overcrowded, that's a different issue, but Herndon is sitting on hundreds of empty seats.

Chantilly is very crowded. Centreville expansion hasn’t started. KAA is a good purchase. Full stop.

It's still nuts to spend millions upon millions expanding some schools to 2500 to 3000 students and then say they should only have 2000 to 2500 kids. Full stop.

It totally makes sense since there was no suitable land for the western school. Now the opportunity came up and FCPS seized the opportunity. As a result, Centreville doesn’t have to increase to 3000 and FCPS doesn’t have to spend money for that. Also other overcrowded schools such as Chantilly and Westfield would get some relief.

It’s not that hard to figure out. I really don’t understand what you are complaining about.

If the school that is expanded is in the wrong place, it makes no sense.

There is no school within a reasonable distance to relieve Chantilly and Westfield. KAA will do that.

They keep talking about academies and magnets. Perhaps these underserved schools would be a good place for them.

Define "reasonable distance." Hint: It's not just your backyard.

It is NOT a thirty to forty minute bus ride. I guess you think it is fine to put other people's kids on a bus trip that long.

FCPS is getting closer to wrapping up a county-wide boundary study and at no point did they propose to redraw boundaries to limit bus rides to 30 minutes.

And many of the proposals would increase the distance kids commute and send them to new schools further from their homes than their current schools.

But clearly you think your area deserves special treatment, whatever the cost to taxpayers or impact on others.

Really?

https://www.fcps.edu/facilities-planning-future/school-boundary-adjustments/boundary-policy


The existing and proposed boundary policy includes the consideration of criteria such as walking and busing routes, travel times, and socio-economics.
FCPS provides transportation services for 139,000 eligible students every day to and from their neighborhood schools or to special programs away from their base schools.
While the majority (76%) of the bus routes in FCPS allow students to spend less than 30 minutes in transit each way, the increased roadway congestion and length of bus rides continues to concern the School Board.

Talk is cheap. Now look at what Thru Consulting actually did and didn't propose.

So, you think Thru is doing a good job? If you want to complain about waste, you should consider starting there.

Besides the point, which is there's no consistent policy in FCPS to get bus rides under 30 minutes any more than there is to ensure building facilities are clean and modern.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Purchasing KAA was the right decision, probably the only decision for which I’d give the FCPS school board credit.

Sure, the renovation may cost $50 million or so, but it’s still far cheaper than building a new school and saves time. The timing can’t be better as we are in the middle of boundary change discussion.

I don’t understand why people focus solely on overcapacity or undercapacity as if that’s the only criterion.

If a school’s capacity is 3,000 and it’s undercapacity at 2,900, is that really ideal? I think any high school enrollment above 2,000 is not ideal. Providing relief to large high schools (2,500+ students) is still meaningful in my opinion, whether they’re overcapacity or not.

It's beyond absurd to ask taxpayers to repeatedly expand schools in western Fairfax to 2500 to 3000 seats and then declare we need another high school in the area because anything above 2,000 is a problem. Those expansions cost real money we'll never get back.

If some of those high schools that are already big are overcrowded, that's a different issue, but Herndon is sitting on hundreds of empty seats.

Chantilly is very crowded. Centreville expansion hasn’t started. KAA is a good purchase. Full stop.

It's still nuts to spend millions upon millions expanding some schools to 2500 to 3000 students and then say they should only have 2000 to 2500 kids. Full stop.

It totally makes sense since there was no suitable land for the western school. Now the opportunity came up and FCPS seized the opportunity. As a result, Centreville doesn’t have to increase to 3000 and FCPS doesn’t have to spend money for that. Also other overcrowded schools such as Chantilly and Westfield would get some relief.

It’s not that hard to figure out. I really don’t understand what you are complaining about.

What an idiotic post. It's like you don't even bother to read the posts to which you're responding.

By the way, Westfield is not overcrowded. It has an enrollment of 2747, a program capacity of 2796, and an even larger design capacity.

Lol you still don’t get it.

The board made prior expansion decisions based on the prior limitations they had (i.e. no suitable land for a new HS). When the new possibility came up (KAA), they made the best decision based on the new set of choices. In other words, they determined buying a KAA would be better than keep expanding schools, which I agree with.

You are not even complaining about the purchase of KAA. You are complaining about sunk cost the board spent when nobody knew KAA would become available.

But I doubt you understand this simple concept.

All you're offering is the twisted logic that they should ignore the sunk costs they've already incurred, and create substantial excess capacity at multiple schools (e.g., Herndon, Westfield) because an opportunity arose to buy KAA.

At a minimum, they should have run the numbers to demonstrate they'd need additional capacity in the future beyond what's already available, and that KAA was the most efficient way to obtain it. Instead, all they keep doing is repeating that buying KAA saved FCPS $280 million (see Reid's recent note), which is BS, since (1) they never would have spent $430 million on a new school; and (2) the total cost of KAA will run well over $150 million.

Ha, read the posts.

The pp clearly complained about the sunk cost and that’s all she complained about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Purchasing KAA was the right decision, probably the only decision for which I’d give the FCPS school board credit.

Sure, the renovation may cost $50 million or so, but it’s still far cheaper than building a new school and saves time. The timing can’t be better as we are in the middle of boundary change discussion.

I don’t understand why people focus solely on overcapacity or undercapacity as if that’s the only criterion.

If a school’s capacity is 3,000 and it’s undercapacity at 2,900, is that really ideal? I think any high school enrollment above 2,000 is not ideal. Providing relief to large high schools (2,500+ students) is still meaningful in my opinion, whether they’re overcapacity or not.

It's beyond absurd to ask taxpayers to repeatedly expand schools in western Fairfax to 2500 to 3000 seats and then declare we need another high school in the area because anything above 2,000 is a problem. Those expansions cost real money we'll never get back.

If some of those high schools that are already big are overcrowded, that's a different issue, but Herndon is sitting on hundreds of empty seats.

Chantilly is very crowded. Centreville expansion hasn’t started. KAA is a good purchase. Full stop.

It's still nuts to spend millions upon millions expanding some schools to 2500 to 3000 students and then say they should only have 2000 to 2500 kids. Full stop.

It totally makes sense since there was no suitable land for the western school. Now the opportunity came up and FCPS seized the opportunity. As a result, Centreville doesn’t have to increase to 3000 and FCPS doesn’t have to spend money for that. Also other overcrowded schools such as Chantilly and Westfield would get some relief.

It’s not that hard to figure out. I really don’t understand what you are complaining about.

What an idiotic post. It's like you don't even bother to read the posts to which you're responding.

By the way, Westfield is not overcrowded. It has an enrollment of 2747, a program capacity of 2796, and an even larger design capacity.

Lol you still don’t get it.

The board made prior expansion decisions based on the prior limitations they had (i.e. no suitable land for a new HS). When the new possibility came up (KAA), they made the best decision based on the new set of choices. In other words, they determined buying a KAA would be better than keep expanding schools, which I agree with.

You are not even complaining about the purchase of KAA. You are complaining about sunk cost the board spent when nobody knew KAA would become available.

But I doubt you understand this simple concept.

All you're offering is the twisted logic that they should ignore the sunk costs they've already incurred, and create substantial excess capacity at multiple schools (e.g., Herndon, Westfield) because an opportunity arose to buy KAA.

At a minimum, they should have run the numbers to demonstrate they'd need additional capacity in the future beyond what's already available, and that KAA was the most efficient way to obtain it. Instead, all they keep doing is repeating that buying KAA saved FCPS $280 million (see Reid's recent note), which is BS, since (1) they never would have spent $430 million on a new school; and (2) the total cost of KAA will run well over $150 million.

Ha, read the posts.

The pp clearly complained about the sunk cost and that’s all she complained about.

Complain? There's no amount of sunk costs PP wouldn't accept so long as they get a new HS. Of course, they are happy to close the door behind them after they get what they want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Purchasing KAA was the right decision, probably the only decision for which I’d give the FCPS school board credit.

Sure, the renovation may cost $50 million or so, but it’s still far cheaper than building a new school and saves time. The timing can’t be better as we are in the middle of boundary change discussion.

I don’t understand why people focus solely on overcapacity or undercapacity as if that’s the only criterion.

If a school’s capacity is 3,000 and it’s undercapacity at 2,900, is that really ideal? I think any high school enrollment above 2,000 is not ideal. Providing relief to large high schools (2,500+ students) is still meaningful in my opinion, whether they’re overcapacity or not.

It's beyond absurd to ask taxpayers to repeatedly expand schools in western Fairfax to 2500 to 3000 seats and then declare we need another high school in the area because anything above 2,000 is a problem. Those expansions cost real money we'll never get back.

If some of those high schools that are already big are overcrowded, that's a different issue, but Herndon is sitting on hundreds of empty seats.

Chantilly is very crowded. Centreville expansion hasn’t started. KAA is a good purchase. Full stop.

It's still nuts to spend millions upon millions expanding some schools to 2500 to 3000 students and then say they should only have 2000 to 2500 kids. Full stop.

It totally makes sense since there was no suitable land for the western school. Now the opportunity came up and FCPS seized the opportunity. As a result, Centreville doesn’t have to increase to 3000 and FCPS doesn’t have to spend money for that. Also other overcrowded schools such as Chantilly and Westfield would get some relief.

It’s not that hard to figure out. I really don’t understand what you are complaining about.

What an idiotic post. It's like you don't even bother to read the posts to which you're responding.

By the way, Westfield is not overcrowded. It has an enrollment of 2747, a program capacity of 2796, and an even larger design capacity.

And 13 "Temporary Classrooms" parked outside, according to the current CIP (page 171).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Purchasing KAA was the right decision, probably the only decision for which I’d give the FCPS school board credit.

Sure, the renovation may cost $50 million or so, but it’s still far cheaper than building a new school and saves time. The timing can’t be better as we are in the middle of boundary change discussion.

I don’t understand why people focus solely on overcapacity or undercapacity as if that’s the only criterion.

If a school’s capacity is 3,000 and it’s undercapacity at 2,900, is that really ideal? I think any high school enrollment above 2,000 is not ideal. Providing relief to large high schools (2,500+ students) is still meaningful in my opinion, whether they’re overcapacity or not.

It's beyond absurd to ask taxpayers to repeatedly expand schools in western Fairfax to 2500 to 3000 seats and then declare we need another high school in the area because anything above 2,000 is a problem. Those expansions cost real money we'll never get back.

If some of those high schools that are already big are overcrowded, that's a different issue, but Herndon is sitting on hundreds of empty seats.

Chantilly is very crowded. Centreville expansion hasn’t started. KAA is a good purchase. Full stop.

It's still nuts to spend millions upon millions expanding some schools to 2500 to 3000 students and then say they should only have 2000 to 2500 kids. Full stop.

It totally makes sense since there was no suitable land for the western school. Now the opportunity came up and FCPS seized the opportunity. As a result, Centreville doesn’t have to increase to 3000 and FCPS doesn’t have to spend money for that. Also other overcrowded schools such as Chantilly and Westfield would get some relief.

It’s not that hard to figure out. I really don’t understand what you are complaining about.

What an idiotic post. It's like you don't even bother to read the posts to which you're responding.

By the way, Westfield is not overcrowded. It has an enrollment of 2747, a program capacity of 2796, and an even larger design capacity.

And 13 "Temporary Classrooms" parked outside, according to the current CIP (page 171).

Some schools use their space inefficiently. In other cases, trailers are left at schools because they have nowhere else to store them. The fact remains that Westfield is below capacity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Purchasing KAA was the right decision, probably the only decision for which I’d give the FCPS school board credit.

Sure, the renovation may cost $50 million or so, but it’s still far cheaper than building a new school and saves time. The timing can’t be better as we are in the middle of boundary change discussion.

I don’t understand why people focus solely on overcapacity or undercapacity as if that’s the only criterion.

If a school’s capacity is 3,000 and it’s undercapacity at 2,900, is that really ideal? I think any high school enrollment above 2,000 is not ideal. Providing relief to large high schools (2,500+ students) is still meaningful in my opinion, whether they’re overcapacity or not.

According to AI, the optimum use of high school facilities is at 80 to 90 percent of capacity.

When Westfield was expanded, the hallways and cafeteria were not. That makes a big difference.

But, I guess, according to PP, we could add up the "capacities" of all the schools and compare it to the number of students. Then, we could probably close multiple schools and have those remaining all at 100%. No matter that we would have very full buses driving long distances on our roads.

It's beyond absurd to ask taxpayers to repeatedly expand schools in western Fairfax to 2500 to 3000 seats and then declare we need another high school in the area because anything above 2,000 is a problem. Those expansions cost real money we'll never get back.

If some of those high schools that are already big are overcrowded, that's a different issue, but Herndon is sitting on hundreds of empty seats.

Chantilly is very crowded. Centreville expansion hasn’t started. KAA is a good purchase. Full stop.

It's still nuts to spend millions upon millions expanding some schools to 2500 to 3000 students and then say they should only have 2000 to 2500 kids. Full stop.

It totally makes sense since there was no suitable land for the western school. Now the opportunity came up and FCPS seized the opportunity. As a result, Centreville doesn’t have to increase to 3000 and FCPS doesn’t have to spend money for that. Also other overcrowded schools such as Chantilly and Westfield would get some relief.

It’s not that hard to figure out. I really don’t understand what you are complaining about.

What an idiotic post. It's like you don't even bother to read the posts to which you're responding.

By the way, Westfield is not overcrowded. It has an enrollment of 2747, a program capacity of 2796, and an even larger design capacity.

And 13 "Temporary Classrooms" parked outside, according to the current CIP (page 171).

Some schools use their space inefficiently. In other cases, trailers are left at schools because they have nowhere else to store them. The fact remains that Westfield is below capacity.

[Anonymous]

There is no “need” for this school. Herndon has capacity for overcrowding at Chantilly. Madison has capacity for overcrowding at Oakton. Westfield is not overcrowded, but if it were it could wait until Centreville is renovated.

The reality is that KAA was just a shiny toy that caught their attention. It’s like the dad who pays for a sports car for himself while the kids need new shoes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is no “need” for this school. Herndon has capacity for overcrowding at Chantilly. Madison has capacity for overcrowding at Oakton. Westfield is not overcrowded, but if it were it could wait until Centreville is renovated.

The reality is that KAA was just a shiny toy that caught their attention. It’s like the dad who pays for a sports car for himself while the kids need new shoes.

Herndon is too far from any Chantilly kids. Period.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no “need” for this school. Herndon has capacity for overcrowding at Chantilly. Madison has capacity for overcrowding at Oakton. Westfield is not overcrowded, but if it were it could wait until Centreville is renovated.

The reality is that KAA was just a shiny toy that caught their attention. It’s like the dad who pays for a sports car for himself while the kids need new shoes.

Herndon is too far from any Chantilly kids. Period.

Chantilly kids could easily move to Westfield and Westfield kids to Herndon.

But you have other kids in mind for those 650 empty seats at Herndon, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no “need” for this school. Herndon has capacity for overcrowding at Chantilly. Madison has capacity for overcrowding at Oakton. Westfield is not overcrowded, but if it were it could wait until Centreville is renovated.

The reality is that KAA was just a shiny toy that caught their attention. It’s like the dad who pays for a sports car for himself while the kids need new shoes.

Herndon is too far from any Chantilly kids. Period.

Chantilly kids could easily move to Westfield and Westfield kids to Herndon.

But you have other kids in mind for those 650 empty seats at Herndon, right?

No. But, you certainly seem anxious to fill them. Why is that? You do not seem concerned about other schools that have many more empty seats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no “need” for this school. Herndon has capacity for overcrowding at Chantilly. Madison has capacity for overcrowding at Oakton. Westfield is not overcrowded, but if it were it could wait until Centreville is renovated.

The reality is that KAA was just a shiny toy that caught their attention. It’s like the dad who pays for a sports car for himself while the kids need new shoes.

Herndon is too far from any Chantilly kids. Period.

Chantilly kids could easily move to Westfield and Westfield kids to Herndon.

But you have other kids in mind for those 650 empty seats at Herndon, right?

No. But, you certainly seem anxious to fill them. Why is that? You do not seem concerned about other schools that have many more empty seats.

Some people are just sour about the purchase. Others never wanted a western high school for whatever reason.

We can debate all day about whether FCPS made the right decision, but the fact is, they’ve already done it, and there’s no way to undo it.

I’m happy about the purchase, and it’s amusing to see some bitter posts.